Synopsis:

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the town doctor's excessive bleeding treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek's dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life without love or family, a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He's managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Revell for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

The overarching theme of A Borrowed Dream is forgiveness. Catherine needed to forgive the doctor who used archaic treatments on her mother, resulting in her death. She was so disgusted with the methods that he used, she purchased her own medical books and supplies so she could treat her students and prevent them by any means possible from having to see him.

Austin was such a noble man. He stood up for what was right, even when it meant he needed to flee his home to protect his daughter. I enjoyed the way he pretended that he had no medical knowledge and yet managed to take over when helping Catherine treat the broken arm of one of her students.

There were several conflicts in the story. Child abuse and rape were dealt with in the story, though no details were shared.

This second book of the Cimarron Creek Trilogy has characters from the first book, yet it is a complete story in itself.